Coupon site Groupon is dealing with a major PR problem after a listing for women’s boots on the site used the N-word in it. Naturally, customers were very upset by this gross display of negligence, taking to social media on Wednesday with screenshots to vent their frustration. Groupon swiftly issued an apology in attempt to calm things down.
The listing describes the color of “Women's Fringed Suede Moccasin Boots” as “N***** Brown.” Groupon’s VP of Global Communications Bill Roberts issued an apologetic statement saying, “We are appalled that this language was displayed on our site...this is completely unacceptable and violates our policies—to say nothing of our values.” The executive also said that Groupon booted both the racist AF listing and the presumably racist AF third-party seller responsible for it as soon as they were made aware of the issue.
The apology isn’t going very far, though: #ShutdownGroupon is trending. There’s also the fact that Groupon just appointed Tiffany Haddish as their spokesperson in January. Haddish hasn’t weighed in on the controversy yet, but I’m sure the outspoken and hilarious comic won’t mince her words on this one.
